E&OE..................
Well thank you very much Mr Charlton. Janette and I are delighted to share
this tremendous celebration which commemorates the commencement of what
must rank as one of the greatest achievements of the history of the Australian
nation. The Snowy Mountains Scheme was a phenomenal engineering achievement,
and it has done an enormous amount to help and build the modern Australia.
But even more importantly than that the Snowy Mountains Scheme was an amazing
Australian achievement in bringing people together and binding them into
one mighty Australian workforce. And as I moved through the crowd today,
it's a reminder to me of the incredible range of nationalities, of ethnicities,
of people of different cultures, of different language, many of whom may
have had the odd argument with each other before they came to Australia,
but once they came to Australia they all found in this new welcoming tolerant
country a new homeland. And I want to say on behalf of that country, from
the bottom of our hearts, how immensely grateful we are to the men and women
of the Snowy who gave us this wonderful national achievement.
In so many different ways you taught us different cultures, different habits,
and they've all now become part of the great Australian mainstream. So can
I say on behalf of the Government, can I say on behalf of all of the people
of Australia, that we are immensely proud of the engineering achievement
which is the Snowy River Scheme. We are immensely proud of the national
development achievement which is the Snowy River Scheme. But even more importantly
than that we are immensely proud of the human achievement which is represented
by the Snowy River Scheme. And today which must rank probably as the biggest
family reunion ever staged in Australia, certainly the biggest family reunion
that I've ever been to, I simply want to say to all of you, we are immensely
proud of what you did, we are grateful for your commitment, we remember
those who suffered and those who lost their lives in the construction at
various stages of the Snowy Scheme. We remember the vision of those people
who put the scheme together more than 50 years ago. And it is a marvelous
opportunity under this beautiful Australian sun to celebrate 50 years of
the commencement of the Snowy Scheme, and all of the great cultural diversity
that the Snowy Scheme helped to bring to the modern Australia. A million
thanks to all of you.
[Ends]